An Imploding Future
by Pink Wolf Princess
Summary: Sirius 'blows up' some books into chapters and now they have to read them in order to put them back together.
1. Chapter 2: Spinner's End

Disclaimer: I own just WAY too many plot bunnies. This is a twist on the 'read the books' fic, and not just in that we'll just be seeing their reactions…

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><p>As with all good Marauders tales, it started with an explosion. Remus had been chasing the other three for stealing his chocolate stash when Sirius had let off a Reducto that had blown apart several books that had been on a board between two windows.<p>

"Look at what you did," groaned James. "Madame Pince going to kill us. Or tell McGonagall."

Peter caught a single chapter as it drifted down. "Well, at least they blew up into chapters instead of pages. That'd be really bad."

"Magic; gotta love it," Sirius grinned, collecting two more chapters. "These two are called The Slug Club and Hermione's Secret. Anybody know anyone named Hermione?"

The others shook their heads. Peter commented, "This one is called The First Task. Weird."

James poked around and found five more while Remus collected seven chapters off the surrounding floor. Sirius and Peter each grabbed one more each. James decided, "Well, we have seventeen chapters now. Let's organize them by chapter number and read them. Maybe that'll help us put them back together."

A short note finished floating down. Remus read: "Someone does something that seems unforgivable, but it ends up it was on Dumbledore's orders and pleas."

"Dumbledore pleading? Pah," snorted James as he organized the chapters. "We got two chapters that are twos, and two thirty-twos as well. So- Dobby's Warning or Spinner's End?"

"Spinner's End sounds interesting," commented Remus, leaning against the table Sirius had decided to sit on. Nodding, James multiplied said chapter into four and the Marauders began to read.

"Wait- it's a book about my psycho cousins Bella and Cissy… do I have to read this?" grumbled Sirius very quickly. James retorted, "Yes."

Another minute passed and when Sirius opened his mouth Remus sighed, "Save the comments until the end, okay?"

"Fine," grumbled Sirius. Quickly the Marauders read the chapter. When finished James cackled, "It's a book about a future! AWESOME!"

"Why am I in Snape's house?" Peter freaked out. "Am I a prisoner? And how do they know that I'm Wormtail? And how come You-Know-Who put me with Snape to ASSIST him?"

"No clue," admitted Sirius. "I liked the part where Cissy hexed Bella… never thought that could happen. Though apparently Bella killed me; I have to admit, not a surprise."

Remus looked a bit sick from the mention of Greyback and the idea one of his three friends would be dead.

"So Snape is a greasy git. Knew it," snarled James, hazel eyes dark. "And who's this Harry Potter? He might be a relative of mine, especially if Snape hates him. And I guess he must be a Hogwarts student if Snape has easy access to him."

"Possibly a relative or yours, or a Muggleborn. Potter isn't an uncommon Muggle surname," pointed out Remus. "And I wonder what went down with the Sorcerer's Stone and at the Ministry. I think they were at least five books on the shelf so this must be at least the third one."

"Yeah," nodded a muted Peter, clearly disheartened by his future self's position. "And I guess Narcissa ends up marrying the Malfoy heir and having a kid. So this must be at least ten years in future, probably more if Draco is being pressed into You-Know-Who's service. Though what could a boy do that You-Know-Who himself can't?"

"No idea," frowned James. "So Peter's been captured and Sirius is dead when this book happened. Where are Remus and I?"

"No clue," sighed Remus, replicating the next chapter so everyone could read at once. "Maybe this chapter will hold some answers.


	2. Chapter 2: Dobby's Warning

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot bunny.

Yes, these are short but that's because they're not realizing the full import of these chapters yet. Plus they only have a few of the 'puzzle' pieces so far.

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><p>With palatably increasing confusion the Marauders read Dobby's Warning as it continued to snow heavily outside.<p>

"So why is a house-elf visiting Harry? And who are these jerk Dursleys?" wondered Peter. James commented hopefully, "Lily has a Muggle sister named Petunia. I remember her telling Alice. So maybe I DO end up with Lily."

"Right," snorted Sirius in disbelief. "Back to Dobby the house-elf. This one is treated pretty badly. I mean, yeah my family chops off the heads of the old ones but we don't make them punish themselves. Heck, Kreacher was the one in charge of my punishments most of the time. Though at least they just hexed me and moved on. These Dursleys are just plain cruel and insane."

The other Marauders didn't know how to respond to that.

Peter whimpered. "It sounds like something bad is going to happen at Hogwarts. And that Harry has faced You-Know-Who before."

"AND Harry is friends with Hermione- I bet she's the one with the secret," noted Sirius. "I mean, how many people can be named Hermione?"

"At least he's friends with Hagrid as well as the Weasleys and Hermione," noted Remus. Peter added, "I think Dobby is a little extreme in his measures. I mean, it's Hogwarts. What sort of bad things could possibly happen here that we didn't cause?"

"I like the way you put that," snorted Sirius. "Plus- shouldn't the Ministry have realized that it was a house-elf and not a wizard?"

"They might not have looked that closely," admitted James, "especially if usually Harry is the only wizard around."

"At least he's going to leave," smiled Remus weakly. "At least he has friends as good as us towards him."

"No kidding," snorted James as he multiplied the next chapter. Curiously Peter asked, "What are the other fifteen chapters?"

"Let's see. In order we have: The Advance Guard; Diagon Alley; The Slug Club; The Hearing; Cornelius Fudge; In the Hog's Head; The Lion and the Serpent; The First Task; Hermione's Secret; Malfoy Manor; The Lightning-Struck Tower; Out of the Fire; Flesh, Bone, and Blood; The Only One He Ever Feared; and The Beginning," listed James.

Sirius frowned. "Flesh, bone, and blood? That sounds like the Resurrection Potion… not good if we're going to be reading that."

"I'm not going to even ask," sighed Remus. "Let's read the next chapter. Maybe we'll find out who exactly Harry Potter is…"


	3. Chapter 3: The Advance Guard

Disclaimer: I just own Twigtown Tales and plot bunnies.

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><p>"Yay!" cheered Sirius nearly halfway through the third chapter. "Remus is in this one! And I'm still alive here!"<p>

James was hugging his chapter close to his chest. "I MARRY LILY, I MARRY LILY!"

"Can't we just read?" sighed Remus. "I'm confused about how and why Harry was attacked by Dementors. And the reappearance of that cat lap is not amusing. And the Dursleys rub me the wrong way."

"They rub everyone the wrong way," muttered Peter, earning himself a high-five from James.

"Oh, wow, it's Nymphadora! My cousin's little girl, all grown up," marveled Sirius. James shushed him. "Let's read and then discuss all we want."

Hastily the four fifth-years kept reading. When he finished James started running around screaming that he marries Lily at the top of his lungs. Remus covered his sensitive ears, Sirius howled with laughter, and Peter hit his forehead with the chapter. When James finally collapsed near his friends, Sirius commented, "So Harry is the son of James and Lily. He looks like James with Lily's eyes and is a great flyer."

"But where are you and Lily? I mean, why aren't you two raising him?" frowned Peter. "Did you guys die?"

"And how do I know what form Harry's Patronus takes? And how come I don't visit him more often?" fretted Remus. "Especially if James and Lily are… gone."

"Hey- why aren't I godfather?" sulked Sirius. Remus added, "And if I know she dislikes it, why do I keep calling her by her first name? I mean, it's a lovely one but…"

"Maybe it's your way of flirting and teasing her," suggested Peter. Remus looked put out. "Who'd want to be with me? Especially someone as young and pretty and powerful as Tonks?"

"Powerful?" sniggered Sirius. Remus rolled his eyes. "She's a Auror allowed to talk back to Mad-eye Moody. She must be powerful."

Sirius thought this over. "Good point. And that stunt she pulled on the Dursleys was pretty sweet. And if you two got together we'd be related!"

"And I wonder why someone pretended to be Moody- and how come he got to use the eye," wondered James. "Though, Sirius, thanks for buying Harry a Firebolt. It sounds like the best broom ever… I just wish I could have bought it for him."

"I don't want you to die," sniffled Peter. James ran a hand through his hair. "Maybe I'll learn how Lily and I die in one of these chapters so we can learn how to prevent it…"

"Maybe," agreed Remus. "And Sirius- did you read the last bit?"

"Nah, got distracted by James doing his fan girl impression," snorted Sirius. Peter nodded and James sheepishly admitted, "I gave up once they landed and started celebrating."

Hesitantly Remus commented, "You guys might want to read the last bit."

They did so and their jaws dropped. Peter sputtered out, "The Order is now at the Black family home? What insanity is this?"

"No idea," James shook his head. "None at all. I think each of these chapters have been from different books so far… it'd explain a lot. Maybe the next chapter will clear up a few things."

"Doubtful," grumbled Sirius. Remus sighed, "It's your own fault for blowing up that shelf."

"But I don't think we would have noticed them otherwise- I mean, they're books," pointed out Peter.

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><p><span>All right: should someone (Snape, Regulus, Lily, Alice, Frank, or other) have heard James' shouting and come to check it out? <span>

And I'm going to say Madame Pince is at a teachers' meeting or something because this is taking place over Christmas break.


End file.
